Quinceañera 2006

As virginal Magdalena approaches her 15th birthday – celebrated in her Echo Park, Los Angeles hood with a quinceañera, a bash every bit as elaborate as a wedding – her life is consumed by thoughts of her boyfriend and the Hummer limo she hopes to hire for the big day. Discovering she is pregnant comes as much of a shock to her as it does to her devoutly Catholic father, who immediately expels her from home. Magdalena moves in with her Uncle Tomas and the other black sheep of the family, her macho cousin Carlos, who has been rejected by his own father. When Carlos takes a shine to the new neighbours, a well-heeled white gay couple who can’t wait to get their hands on his firm young Latino flesh, his amorous adventures bring unwelcome consequences for them all. Written and directed with obvious love by filmmakers Glatzer and Westmoreland – two white boys who have also made their home in the predominantly Latino suburb of Echo Park – this is a saucy, heartfelt insiders’ portrait of a vibrant neighbourhood assailed by rapid gentrification.